On the afternoon of September 17, during a cabinet meeting of the Lebanese caretaker government, multiple locations in Beirut as well as the southeastern and northeastern regions of Lebanon experienced pager (BP) explosions.
The incident resulted in over 4,000 injuries and 11 deaths. Lebanese Health Minister Abiad expressed shock and regret over the events.
Hezbollah also responded to the incident, stating that some of its members' pagers exploded, and that Hezbollah members were among those killed in the blast.
At the same time, Hezbollah accused Israel of bearing "full responsibility" for the explosions and vowed to take retaliatory measures.
According to reports, Hezbollah has recently been using pagers frequently to avoid being tracked and monitored by Israel, due to the lower technological sophistication of these devices.
The explosions primarily occurred in areas considered Hezbollah strongholds, including the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.
Reports indicate that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had intervened with Hezbollah’s order of 5,000 pagers from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo several months ago.
Sources revealed that these pagers might have contained explosives weighing up to 3 grams.
Sky News Arabia reported similar information on September 17, noting that Mossad had coated the batteries of these pagers with PETN explosive material before delivery.
According to another source, after Mossad sent specific coded messages, 3,000 of the pagers were simultaneously activated and caused explosions.
The American media outlet Axios also cited sources saying that the explosion operation was approved during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cabinet members, and security leaders.
It is understood that the exploded pagers were AR-924 models from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, with the whole device including the battery weighing only 95 grams.
Even though the battery constitutes most of the weight, such devices are unlikely to produce fatal explosions.
Similar explosive incidents, like the Samsung Galaxy Note7 battery explosions from a few years ago, mostly resulted in minor burns, so the claim of explosives being implanted in the pagers is more plausible.
Additionally, the Gold Apollo AR-924 pager supports IP67 waterproofing and uses ultrasonic welding technology, making post-production modifications difficult; thus, the manufacturer might have been directly involved in implanting the explosives.
Early reports from Taiwan's "CommonWealth Magazine" indicated that Gold Apollo had received orders from the FBI and European fire departments before 2011, which could imply a connection between Gold Apollo and this incident.
In response, Gold Apollo's Chairman Hsu Ching-Kuang said in an interview on the morning of the 18th that while the exploded pagers were branded "Gold Apollo," these devices were actually produced by their distributor’s factory in Lebanon, and this distributor has an office in Taiwan.
Hsu expressed his anger over the matter, accusing the distributor, "You have killed me!" He emphasized that Gold Apollo is also a victim of the incident and expressed his embarrassment, stating that the company is always responsible and feels very awkward about the situation.
In its latest statement, Gold Apollo clarified that the distributor responsible for producing and selling this pager model is "BAC Company."
According to the agreement, Gold Apollo authorized BAC Company to use its brand trademark for product sales in specific areas, but BAC Company was entirely responsible for product design and manufacturing.
Gold Apollo also stated, "Regarding the AR-924 model pager reported in the media, we clarify that this model was produced and sold by BAC Company. We only provided brand authorization and did not participate in design and manufacturing.
We always comply with relevant regulations and maintain transparent and compliant relationships with our partners."
The explosion incident has attracted widespread attention and has once again focused international attention on the complex situation and geopolitical struggles in the Middle East.
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